Sudbury's plan to end homelessness by 2030 requires provincial, federal funding

Greater Sudbury city council now has a clear idea of what needs to be done to reach a level of homelessness that is rare, brief and non-recurring. 

But the plan requires investments of more than $350 million from all levels of government, and there's always a risk those sources of funding won't materialize. 

Recently the city noted there were more people living rough in encampments or simply unsheltered than ever before. 

There are currently 245 people known to be experiencing homelessness in the city, and the average amount of time needed to find housing for people on the city's by-name list has jumped from two to seven months between 2022 and 2023. 

The roadmap to ending homelessness by 2030 adopted unanimously by city council on Tuesday describes the different initiatives that need to be put in place for the Greater Sudbury to reach its goals. 

It involves shifting the approach from one that offers passive services like warming centres to more active solutions like increased options for transitional housing. 

The idea is to limit services that "manage the homeless problem rather than end it," reads the report from city staff. 

Preventing, addressing and ending the problem

The roadmap proposes solutions to prevent people from experiencing homelessness. These include things like emergency rent programs and legal aid clinics to help tenants hold on to their housing.

Another pillar of the strategy involves working to ensure people's experience of homelessness is brief. That means having rapid rehousing programs in place where housing supports would be offered overnight in emergency shelters. 

An increase in supportive housing will also be needed to keep vulnerable people housed, said the city's director of children and social services Tyler Campbell. 

"Our acuity percentage is higher than other comparable municipalities," he said, meaning that clinical and social services are needed to prevent people from slipping back into homelessness. 

Some around the council table asked if people experiencing homelessness in Sudbury were from the city or elsewhere, the nickel city being an important hub in northeastern Ontario. 

The city's manager of housing services, Gail Spencer, said about 75 per cent of people on the by-name list have been established in Sudbury for more than five years.

The city to focus on what is within municipal control

City staff will be preparing businesses cases for the next municipal budget deliberations. Early estimations suggest the city would have to contribute up to 30 per cent of $322 million in capital costs described in the plan, in addition to increasing service funding by $300,000 annually. 

"Certainly it's a large price tag," said Mayor Paul Lefebvre. "There's no municipality that can afford this on their own." 

He believes having a plan will put Sudbury in a better position to apply for funding when opportunities open up at the provincial and federal level.

"If we're not ready for it then we don't be receiving it either," he said.

Lefebvre believes the roadmap will be useful, regardless of whether or not funding from other levels of government come through. 

"At least we are now more aware than ever of how we need to approach this," he said.

City council plans to look at some of the properties in its land banking strategy and identify which ones are close to being shovel-ready. 

There will now be biannual updates on the city's progress toward ending homelessness.